


White Tiger

by gardener



Category: Justin Bieber (Musician)
Genre: Amsterdam, M/M, feel good
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-11
Updated: 2016-04-11
Packaged: 2018-06-01 16:51:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6528223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gardener/pseuds/gardener
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A pure feel good story about Justin Bieber and Mees van der Berg.</p>
            </blockquote>





	White Tiger

**White Tiger**

 

            There he was, seated on a bath towel at the pool in Mees’ backyard, looking at the text of his own songs on www.AZLyrics.com. It was an incredibly sad sight, but what was he to do? All human beings forgot things, at points, and this was one of Justin Bieber’s moments.

            Mees van der Berg was sitting on the porch, reviewing Salina Marcus’ architecture sketch for Adam Levine. He was a renowned architect with his own company, MEES 88, and that had quickly become his life. He sipped from the Tequila Sunrise Justin had made him twenty minutes ago and listened to the guitar play of the boy at the pool. It was a relaxed Tuesday afternoon and it was very hot in Santa Monica, but the breeze of the sea made the climate sustainable and able to live in. The sun shone royally on the water of the swimming pool and the reflection was dazzlingly beautiful. Mees hadn’t been this happy for a long time.

            ‘Justin?’ The young artist turned around, a frown on his face. ‘You doing alright?’

            ‘Yeah, just reviewing the lyrics. I forgot half of the Journals’ texts and I’m literally dying from dehydration.’ Mees laughed and stood up. He grabbed a bottle of Coke for his boy and brought it to him, taking a seat next to him. He let his feet and calves sink into the water. ‘Thanks, babe.’   

            ‘Take a break, you deserve it. You’ve been working for hours on end without a proper break. Come, give me the guitar.’ Justin handed the guitar to Mees and he started playing a riddle. The boy wanted to give him the pick, but he declined. Mees liked the feeling of his bare fingers on the rough strings.

 _Love is in the open air_  
Jij hebt mannen die je willen baby I don’t care  
Want je krijgt alleen maar aandacht jij bent populair  
Ja ze krijgt alleen maar aandacht zij is popular

 _Ik bedoel maar zet je trots opzij_  
Ben Gers Pardoel dus schatje spring maar achterop bij mij  
En gooi een beetje love op mij

 _Ben op een missie_  
Ik heb wodka net als fifty  
Ik heb liquor en die whisky maakt je dizzy

            ‘You can do the English part, right?’ Justin nodded and his eyes shone in happiness. He liked the songs Mees played. He was Dutch and the music in The Netherlands had a lot of English as well as African-American cultures in it, which he really dug.

 _I said nobody                                                  Like a thunder and stroke_  
Can do it like you                                            Yeah you’ve got me and drop  
I said nobody                                                    
Can move it like you                                       I fly to Amsterdam my town

 _I’m slowing down oh VP yeah                         Call me when you’re down_  
You’re catching my heart                                Imma tell her she can come  
I don’t want to flee, yeah         

_I said nobody                                                  I said nobody  
Can do it like you                                            Can do it like you_

_Just the other day                                          I said nobody_  
Saw the girl of my dreams                              Can move it like you  
Just the other day                                 
But it wasn’t what it seemed

_We was blinded by love  
And it came from above_

            ‘Hmm… I love you, Mees,’ smiled Justin. He pronounced it like _Maze_ and that was always funny to hear. He had taught him to, but that was irrelevant.

            ‘Love you too, babe.’ They sang along to a few songs on Spotify and laughed hard. ‘Do you wanna go to Amsterdam with me for a few days? I think we’ll be able to fit that into our schedules.’ Justin nodded heavily.

            ‘ _I_ can totally fit that into my schedule. Martin Garrix lives in Amsterdam and I wanna meet him, so it’s sort of work related!’ Mees laughed. ‘When do we leave?’

 

            They landed on Schiphol Amsterdam Luchthaven (Airport) that Friday morning at 12 o’clock at noon with Justin’s private jet. It had been a relaxed 10 hours in the air. Amsterdam was exactly like Mees had last seen it, a few years ago when he was here for his mother’s funeral. She had lived in a canalhouse apartment at the Herengracht, where Mees had grown up.

            ‘Oh my god, I love this,’ said Justin, enthusiastically. He had slept for hours on end on the plane and was a hundred percent awake, now. Same for Mees, but he was never as tired as Justin after a long day. ‘Amsterdam is awesome. It’s been too long since I was here for the last time!’ The memories came flooding back into Mees’ head, but he ignored the bad and cherished the good ones. Justin seemed a ball of happiness.

            ‘If I remember well, the last time you were here, you were smoking pot in my childhood favorite coffee shop, Whootsie Tootsie.’ Justin burst out in a fit of laughter.

            ‘If I had ever entered a coffee shop named Whootsie Tootsie, I would sure remember so and this doesn’t quite come up in my mind.’ Mees grabbed his hand and led him to the canal. He pointed across the water, but was shocked to find what he saw.

            ‘ _Amnesia_?’ His voice was full of hatred. ‘That coffee shop right there, yeah? I used to basically live there. Like, when I was your age, maybe a bit younger, I was there all the time.’

            ‘So you used to be a druggie?’

            ‘No, it was normal. It is kind of normal here, I guess, to just smoke pot once or twice a week. Like, some do it every day, but me and my friends did it like three times a week, which was fine. One actually got addicted and then the rest quit, not wanting to go after him. He went to rehab and is fine now, so that’s good.’

            ‘Oh, babe, I feel _so_ happy!’ They walked around in Europe’s Sin City for hours, shopped in the inner city and had some fries with ketchup and mayonnaise at a snack bar.

            Justin handed out a couple of autographs in ‘t Paardje, a café in the Pijp where an old school friend of Mees’ worked. Pieter Bakker, was his name, and he had gone to high school with him. They had a few beers there on the terrace. The weather was nice, as it was August, and the beer was calling for some nostalgic stories.   
So there they sat for hours on end, with people walking by and them changing their position on the terrace so they were in the sun every hour, with Pieter taking some time off to talk to Mees about America and Justin enjoying everything, even though he understood very little of their conversation. Mees talked in Dutch, because Pieter barely spoke English. Justin said it was fine.

            ‘I wanna go out tonight and drink so much I won’t be able to remember it. Who’s in?’ Pieter said yes and Mees agreed, skeptically, knowing what Justin was like when he had a hangover. ‘Great! You’re locals, so you know where we need to go for a good party. I’m just gonna walk around for a bit and ask people if they wanna come, too, tonight.’

            ‘Wow, wow, Justin, wait up.’ Mees laughed and grabbed his hand. ‘I know you’re enthusiastic and trust me, I love it, but that’s not a good idea.’

            ‘It’s nice to see you with old friends, babe, and I’m happy for you to be back, so I don’t wanna drag you away from Pieter.’ He pronounced it as _Peter_ and that was fine with him. ‘It’s not _that_ crowded anymore. I mean, what time is it? Like, seven?’

            ‘7.30,’ answered Mees, looking at his watch.

‘Exactly, I’ll be back here before eight, okay?’

            ‘No, I don’t want you to go alone.’ Mees sighed. ‘I’m coming with you. Pieter, wil je ook mee? Ik heb dus echt geen zin om die idioot in zijn eentje door de drukke straten van A’dam te laten lopen zonder enige beveiliging. Justin overlijdt nog een keer aan z’n naïviteit.’ Justin obviously had no idea what Mees was talking about and it somewhat annoyed him, because it was about him. He heard his name, after all.

            ‘Ja, ja dat is goed. Wij gaan ook mee uit vanavond, dus we hebben toch een beetje een idee nodig van wie er met ons meegaan.’ Again, _no fucking idea_ , but he decided to ignore the insecurity it gave him and cashed out.

            ‘I’m going, now, so if you wanna join, you’re gonna have to get out of your chair now.’  They nodded and got up, following the young singer onto the street. They went to the Dam first. A group of girls around the age of eighteen were sitting on the edge of the monument. ‘Hey, girls!’ Justin walked up to them. Mees stayed with Pieter. ‘I’m Justin, nice to meet you.’ The girls shook his hand and said their names. They were Saskia, Liselotte, Magteld, Vera and Mandy. ‘And how old are you guys, if I may ask?’

            ‘Saskia and I are seventeen,’  said Mandy for herself. ‘Liselotte is eighteen and Vera and Magteld are nineteen.’ They were fangirling their heads off in front of the singer and Mees was on the verge of rolling his eyes when Justin hissed.

            ‘Ay… I don’t wanna be the dick, here, but we can’t take seventeen-years-olds out to eighteen plus clubs.’ He turned around to look at Mees with a regretful face. Mees rolled his eyes, for real, this time, and walked forward until he was standing by Justin’s side.

            ‘Nederlandse meiden, hè?’ They all nodded. ‘Ik ben Mees. Justin hier was er heel erg van overtuigd dat het leuk zou zijn om mensen te vragen om vannacht mee uit te gaan. Het is een echt Amerikaantje, dus dat hele zeventien jaar is te jong gebeuren komt daar vandaan, maar eh… Ik weet niet. Volgens mij zit het wel goed als jullie met ons zijn.’ That was a whole story and Justin, once again, didn’t know what was being spoken about, but he, _again_ , heard his name. ‘Jus?’ He looked up. ‘Don’t you think it’ll be okay as long as they’re with us?’      

            ‘No. I don’t wanna, like, risk it. ‘m Sorry guys, you want a picture though?’ They went to take some photos with Justin and Mees just talked to Pieter about his prude nature for a while. They said bye and went on searching for party buddies.

            ‘Hé, ik ben Mees.’

            ‘Levi.’ He pronounced _Lavey_.

            ‘Wil je vanavond met mij en mijn vrienden Pieter en Justin uit?’ Would you like to go out with me and my friends Pieter and Justin, tonight? ‘Justin is echt _desperately_ op zoek naar mensen.’ Justin is desperately looking for people. ‘Misschien kun je me helpen.’ Maybe you can help me. Levi was very handsome, he had dark brown hair and freckles on his cheeks. He looked nothing like your typical Dutchie.

            ‘Ik zou eigenlijk vanavond met een paar vrienden uit.’ I was going to go out with a few friends of mine, tonight. ‘Maar ik kan aan ze vragen of ze het goed vinden om met jullie mee te gaan? Het lijkt mij wel gezellig.’ But I can ask them if they’d like to come with you guys. It sounds nice to me.

 

            ‘I don’t really wanna go out with him,’ whispered Justin into Mees’ ear when they were getting ready. They had agreed on 12.30 at a club called Escape on the Rembrandtplein, which was rather close to the hotel they were staying at. Grand Hotel Amrâth, was the name of their hotel, and it was a five Michelin star classic. They were freshening themselves up in the bathroom of their suite.

            ‘Why not, babe? He seems like a really cool dude to hang out with and he’s taking some friends, both male and female, so we will immediately have a squad once we arrive.’

            ‘He’s… He’s really pretty,’ Justin sighed desperately. ‘and he likes you. I saw the look on his face when you were talking to him. I don’t want you to… you know what.’

            ‘I know we used to have freedom in our relationship, but that’s the past. Why _the fuck_ would I do you know what with Levi? You’re my boyfriend! I can’t believe you even think about such a thing. I’m not interested in him, or anybody except for you in that way.’ Mees looked at him in disbelief. ‘You’re Justin Bieber, JB, the Biebs, stop being insecure. To me, you go before anybody.’ He sighed. ‘So, if you really don’t wanna go out with Levi, I’ll call him and tell him that the deal’s off.’

            ‘No, no, I mean, no, I don’t want that. I just don’t want you to do _the thing_ with anybody else.’       

            ‘Well, that’s good, because I don’t want you to do “the thing” with anybody else, either. Of course I wouldn’t. Christ, Justin, I’m actually relatively shocked by the fact that you think about shit like that. Why is that?’

            ‘I… I don’t know. I’m a bit of a jealous type, you _know_ that. It doesn’t make it a lot easier to have some hot stud who wants you around.’ Mees smiled and wrapped his arms around Justin from the back. ‘’m Really excited to go out, though. You?’

            ‘Me too,’ smiled Mees. ‘So, I took you to Amsterdam _and_ fixed a clique for us. What do you say, now?’ Justin giggled in a way that only he could.

            ‘ _Bedankt_ ,’ he chuckled. _Thank you_.

            ‘ _Alsjeblieft_.’ _No problem_. Mees grabbed the boy’s hand and spun him around in a pirouette. ‘I love you.’

            ‘Love you, too. I don’t think I’d be able to ever go without you again. Your word is a lamp for my feet.’

            ‘A light on my path,’ Mees finished his sentence. He kissed him.

 

            Soon after (maybe) a quick oral gratification from Justin to Mees as a thank you for calming him down, they were standing in front of _Escape_. It was crowded, already, and Justin was toddling on his feet. The nerves had hit him as soon as he had gotten off the bicycle they had lent from Pieter, who was also standing with them.

            ‘Dat is Justin Bieber, jij klapmogool!’ yelled somebody, followed by five young men walking up to them. ‘Hoe heb je dat feit nou weer over het hoofd gezien?’

            ‘Weet  niet, was het de bedoeling dat ik wist hoe Justin Bieber er nu uit ziet? Hij lijkt helemaal niet meer op hem van vroeger.’ Mees overheard them talking about how Justin looked nothing like he had, a few years ago, and that Levi hadn’t recognized him.

            ‘Hey, guys, ‘m Justin,’ smiled Justin, putting up the most confident façade he could manage to press out and shook their hands. Their names were Levi (of course) van de Beek, Sander Luster, Mark van Dam and Ruben Megane. Five girls called Carmen Luster (Sander’s sister), Marga Hofstra, Laura Nutma, Romy de Vries and Karin Brouwer came up to them a minute later and introduced themselves with high tones in their voices and squeaks here and there. It _was_ Justin Bieber they were on about, after all, and that was definitely something for mundane girls from around The Netherlands. They were with twelve when they went into the club, but split up very quickly.

            ‘The guys there,’ said Mees, pointing at the stage in the back of the club, where four guys with a dark skin tone were singing and rapping. ‘are SFB. Strictly Family Business, is their name. They’re a really popular rap formation in The Netherlands.’

 _Ik kan niet focken met strangers_ _Ze schreeuwt "oh mijn God, oh mijn Jezus!"_ _  
_[_Maison Margiela's, geen veters_](http://genius.com/8350874/Sfb-strangers/Maison-margielas-geen-veters) _Ik kan niet focken met strangers_ _  
_[_All of my nigga's zijn famous_](http://genius.com/8370376/Sfb-strangers/All-of-my-niggas-zijn-famous) _Ik kan niet focken met strangers_ __  
Je chickie die opent d'r benen  
Sorry maar nu wordt het menens

            Mees knew the song _Strangers_ very well, as he had listened to it so many times that he could sing the lyrics in a constant tone without having to even really think about it. He’d listened to SFB around Justin several times, too, so it was no surprise that Justin was jamming to it, too.

            ‘I totally know this song!’ he said over the music. Levi came back from the bar with three beer and gave a green bottle to Mees and Justin.

            ‘Heineken, Justin, I want you to experience Amsterdam in its best forms,’ grinned Levi and winked at the young singer. ‘Likin’ it, here?’ His English was really good, which was not a surprise, thought Justin: he was handsome, clever, liked to party _and_ spoke multiple languages. God, Justin barely spoke his mother tongue.

            ‘Thanks,’ he smiled, feeling tiny in the big crowd. They toasted to Amsterdam, with the three of them, and Carmen and Romy came to stand with them, too. They clinked their glasses of martini together with a ping and smiled brightly.

            ‘So, you’re Justin Bieber,’ said Romy. ‘I used to be your biggest fan in, like, ’09.’ She laughed her white teeth bare. ‘I still really dig your music, especially the new Purpose stuff. ‘s Really cool.’  Justin smiled. He really appreciated that.

            ‘Thank you,’ he said, not losing Mees out of his eye. ‘I’m proud of Purpose, too, ‘s a good album in my opinion. I got a different audience.’

            ‘Maybe SFB would like to meet you!’ proposed Levi from where he was standing, leaning against a barre that stood upright. ‘Shooting a cool pic with JB for Instagram doesn’t sound like _the worst_ publicity stunt for them, does it?’ Justin didn’t really want to take pictures with people tonight, but he liked their music a lot, and he would actually like to meet the guys who were behind the cool tunes Mees rocked all the time. ‘Would you like that?’

            ‘Yeah, I guess,’ Justin said. ‘Mees blasts their music really often, so to see the faces to them would be a cool experience, I think.’ He seemed unsure of anything, at that point. ‘But I don’t… I don’t want them to post anything on Instagram or whatever social media until tomorrow morning. ‘s Already crowded enough here and I’m not really feeling the whole drama that would come up if they let the world know I’m here right now.’

            ‘Understandable,’ smiled Levi. He was nice, _too_. Jesus Christ, was there anything about this guy that wasn’t just perfect? ‘You should totally go say hi to them. I’ll stay here and guard your beers if you want.’

            ‘Yeah, that’d be nice, thank you, Levi.’ He pronounced Lavey, like the boy had, himself. That apparently made him smile. Mees followed Justin to the back of the club, where it was crowded, but a security guard let them into the backstage room immediately when he saw Justin. There were certainly some perks to having JB for a boyfriend, that was right. Mees got to meet a lot of cool people and celebrities and would get into any event as long as the boy was next to him. Nobody knew about Mees and Justin’s relationship (apart from some sharp suspects). The outside world thought they were best friends and they liked it that way.

            ‘Hey,’ said Justin when the group of singers and rappers came into the dressing room they were resting in. Two guys went _loose_ when they saw Justin, the other two just looked in shock.

            ‘Dat is Bieber! Fuck man, hoe kan dit nou? Die kerel is een Amerikaan of zo!’ Mees laughed. He recognized the speaking dude as Francis Edusei, better known as Frenna in his home country. Mees really liked their formation.

            ‘Ja, dat is zeker Bieber,’ he grinned towards the men. ‘Ik heb hem meegenomen naar Amsterdam om hem de lifestyle even weer bij te brengen. Was alweer een tijdje geleden, ook voor mij. Tof om jullie te ontmoeten. Ik ben Mees.’ I took him to Amsterdam to experience the lifestyle once again, it has been a while, for me, too. Nice to meet you. I’m Mees.

            ‘Nou, Mees, het is ook goed om jou te ontmoeten!’ It’s nice to meet you, too! They introduced themselves as Francis Edusei, Alejandro Hak, Jackie Osei and Kaene Marica. To Justin as well. ‘It’s nice to meet you, JB.’

            ‘Totally awesome meeting you, too,’ smiled Justin. He liked their enthusiasm. ‘Mees and I rock your music a lot, even back in California. ‘s Always relaxed and chill.’

            ‘Really?’ yelled Alejandro. ‘You listen to our music?’  He looked at Mees. ‘Hij luistert naar onze muziek? Echt?’ He listens to our music? Really?

            ‘Ja,’ laughed Mees. ‘Ik probeer hem de Nederlandse cultuur een beetje bij te brengen.’ I’m trying to show him the Dutch culture a bit more. ‘Hij vindt jullie muziek echt leuk.’ He really digs your music.

            ‘English, please,’ chuckled Justin, not liking the fact that he was being left out of the conversation so brutally.

            ‘Oh, yes, sure, sure,’ laughed Jackie. ‘Can we, like, take a picture with you and post it on Instagram? You liking our music will really get us some international attention!’ Justin laughed at that. He really loved how much these guys cared.

            ‘Of course, yeah! Can you post it tomorrow morning? Or when I’m not in this club anymore?  I don’t really want everybody around to know I’m here.’ They nodded enthusiastically. ‘Great, then certainly, let’s take a pic. Mees, can you take it?’ They posed for the camera and Mees took a shot of SFB with Justin. They looked nice, together, and he was proud of Justin for smiling in the photo. He didn’t do that often, anymore, and it was upsetting.

 

            ‘You’re a classic beauty,’ said Mees to Justin when they were sitting in the tram towards a club called Bitterzoet (Bittersweet). Levi was seated on the other side of the small aisle, next to Sander. The rest had stayed in Escape, not feeling like leaving. The girls did want to leave, but Levi said it was better if they stayed behind. Bitterzoet was not for them, he had said, and that made Justin wonder what it was like.

            ‘Thank you,’ he giggled. ‘you’re a classic… eh… I don’t know, you’re just insanely hot.’ Mees was like David Rosenberg, but with a less divinely muscular body, less facial hair and blue eyes. He had been told that he was hot before, but hearing it come from Justin was way more special. He had modeled for a little while, when he had just moved to California, as a side job, next to architecture, but he didn’t like looking after his body the way he had to, then, so he quit.

            ‘That’s a bunch ‘a nice things to say to your best friend,’ grinned Levi from the other side of the aisle. ‘I can’t really find myself telling Sander that he’s _insanely hot_. I mean, yeah, good looking, that’s just a fact, but it’s so… I don’t know. You must be really close to take those things from each other.’

            ‘Yeah, we are,’ said Justin, enviously. ‘We _are_ very close. ‘s Not like you can’t give your friends some big motivations, even if it’s about the way they look. I think you’re pretty, too. And Sander as well. You’re all just very pretty people, your whole group of friends. It’s not weird to tell you, if I think so. It’s positive, so why would you keep something so positive that it could make somebody feel special on the backhand if you could just tell them? I don’t see the point.’ He was rambling, now, trying to overcome the fact that he had just nearly outed himself and Mees to Levi, Sander and the other three people on the tram in ear reach.

            ‘Jus, calm down, Levi’s not attacking you. He’s just saying.’ Mees stroked his hand.

            ‘Yeah, ‘m just saying. Sorry if it came across as aggressive. I tend to have an undertone of that.’ Levi smiled. ‘I don’t think it’s weird, that you call him hot. He _is_.’ Justin saw green of jealousy when Mees thanked him in Dutch. He pulled his hand away when Mees tried to grab it. He walked out of the tram quickly when they had gotten to the stop they were going for, and walked ahead of the rest. Not that he knew where he had to go, but he’d find it.   
_Spuistraat_ , he saw on a sign, _Bitterzoet_. He took a right turn, leaving the rest behind. He looked back when he had found the place. It was a rather small building for a club and it looked scabby from the outside. It mainly just looked like a little café for people in the  neighborhood, but he heard people talk in English, which was a relief for him. He wasn’t alone, at least. There was a line in front of the door, which was guarded by a bouncer the size of Canada. Justin wanted to go in really badly, get a few drinks and just forget about Levi _obviously_ flirting with Mees.

            ‘Justin!’ yelled Levi, who came up to him. ‘Mees and Sander are taking a piss in the bushes.’ He sighed. ‘I’m sorry if I upset you, there, in the tram. I didn’t know what to say.’

            ‘’s Okay,’ mumbled Justin. ‘I just… I don’t like when people flirt with him.’

            ‘I wouldn’t want people flirting with my boyfriend, if I had one, either.’

            ‘I think nobody would want that to- _Oh my god_.’  He put his hands in front of his mouth. He had just told Levi. He had just confirmed Levi’s suspicion. ‘You weren’t supposed to… God, eh, can you, like… Holy _shit_ , I’m an idiot.’

            ‘Don’t worry, mate, I’m known for keeping my mouth shut. ‘m A closed book. I won’t tell. Oh, _and_ I won’t flirt with Mees anymore. I suspected something when you got a bit pissed after I did.’ Justin laughed quietly.

            ‘Thanks, please do indeed _not_ tell. It’s a secret, okay? Keep it that way.’ Levi pretended to lock his mouth and threw the imaginary key away. Justin trusted his secret to be safe with him. Mees and Sander came back a couple of seconds later.   
They went into Bitterzoet, getting past the bouncer easily once he recognized Justin, and ordered four drinks. Justin and Levi drank gin and tonic and Mees and Sander had a Jameson on the rocks. Amsterdam had similar drinks to the once you would typically get served in California, which helped against the nostalgic thoughts that would come around the corner within a week.   
The night was not bittersweet, like the bar’s name said. It was nice and comfortable. They danced and drank until it was 5 a.m. and they decided it was time to go home.

 

            ‘I love your hands so much,’ said Justin. He lied down on the couch of the hotel suite and took off his ripped jeans so his  dark blue, silk blouse was the only thing he was still wearing with his Calvin Klein boxer shorts. His bleached hair was wet with the rain that had suddenly began pouring. He lit a cigarette in the middle of the room. You were not allowed to smoke in there, but he ignored the sign next to the door. Mees lit a cigarette, too, and went to sit on the couch, pulling Justin into his lap, with his face to him, so he was straddling him with his delicate thighs.

            ‘Love your little thighs,’ Mees said, always praising his insecurities, writing them off as perfection. ‘And your pretty lips, yeah? Where do you wanna put those?’ They were both a little drunk, but nothing too drastic. Justin moaned a little when Mees sucked a nice hickey into his neck. ‘’m Gonna get something from the bedroom, yeah? Be back in a second.’ He jumped off the couch to get the lubricant and condoms from the bedroom. When he had retrieved the things, Justin was fast asleep on the sofa, with his hair tousled and soft snoring. Mees didn’t have the heart to wake him up, even though he was very aroused. He could take care of himself. Before anything, he lifted Justin from the couch and brought him to the bedroom. He woke up halfway, asking what Mees was doing, but the architect shushed him and told him to go back to sleep. He put him under the sheets, tossed himself off in the bathroom and went to bed, too. It had been a long, _long_ night and he was exhausted.

 

            Waking up the next morning (afternoon, it was 1 p.m.) was pleasant. Justin felt guilty for falling asleep on him last night, so he made up for it. They had lazy morning sex with a lot of clumsy kissing and called room service afterwards. They had coffee and something called _wentelteefjes_ , which was a Dutch variety of French toast, in bed, and enjoyed it to the fullest.

            ‘If you’re the love of my life,’ said Justin. ‘I’ll put my name under it.’

            ‘Me, too. Maybe we’re soulmates.’ The singer giggled. ‘We may have been meant to be together. Fait brought us here. You believe in that, right?’

            ‘I don’t know. I think God has left this special thing to us, because he loves us as much as we love him.’ Mees didn’t believe in God, or Jesus, and he never had. Growing up in Amsterdam, nobody in his neighborhood was ever catholic or from any other religion. Atheists – that was what The Netherlands were full of. Justin, however, was positive that God existed and that Mees, deep inside, believed in and loved him, too.

            ‘Yeah, that’s probably it.’ Justin laughed and punched his shoulder. ‘Let’s fly to Paris for two days tomorrow. Amsterdam is fun, but there isn’t much we can do here.’

            ‘I like it, here. Shall we go to Madame Tussauds this afternoon? Have lunch at that café we went to, yesterday, and go right through? It’s _so_ close. Oh and I wanna go to that Swarovski store on the corner. I saw a few beautiful brace- and necklaces when we walked past, yesterday, and I wanna take a closer look at them.’

            ‘Buy them, that means.’ Justin laughed.

            ‘Buy them, yeah. We should get, like, matching bracelets. Some are with leather. You like leather bracelets, right?’  Mees nodded. ‘Let’s get dressed, then.’   
They took a shower together, soaping each other in and rinsing back off, cleaning up and putting on some clothes.  Justin put on denim shorts and a Givenchy polo. He put an Alexander McQueen bag onto his bag to carry around his necessities. It was funny, seeing him in all those brands, because he didn’t really care about them. Mees really liked the Yves Saint Laurent shirts and blouses he owned, because silk just looked beautiful and delicate on him.

            Madame Tussauds was a crowded place, just like it had always been. Justin took a picture with himself in wax figure (from a few years ago) and Mees loved the Selena Gomez one. He loved spending time with her, but hadn’t seen her in a while. Justin was over their relationship, but he would never get over her as a person. Neither would Mees, now that he knew her. She was amazing.

            They went to the Swarovski store and bought matching bracelets. Mees then hooked  Justin up with Pieter, who was serving at ‘t Paardje and said he was going to get some money from the ATM. In reality, he went to Tiffany & Co. in the Hooftstraat. It was a walk of a while, a little over five minutes, but the nearest ATM was close by and he would always be able to come with the excuse that it was crowded. It would probably be.

            ‘Hallo,’ said Mees. ‘Ik ben op zoek naar een verlovingsring voor mijn vriend.’ I’m looking for an engagement ring for my boyfriend.

            ‘Fijn dat u er bent.’ Good that you are here. ‘Weet u de precieze maat van uw partner’s vinger?’ Do you know the exact size of your partner’s finger?

            ‘Nee,’ said Mees. No. ‘maar hij heeft smalle vingers, best wel kort.’ But he has slender, rather short fingers. ‘Als u mij een paar kunt laten zien, zal ik dat erg op prijs stellen.’ If you could show me some, I would really appreciate it.

            ‘Ja, maar natuurlijk!’ Yes, of course! The woman behind the counter seemed incredibly happy to see him. Mees had been thinking about asking Justin to marry him for a while, but after a relationship of three years, he now thought it was time to make a move. Moving in together, getting married… He dreamt about it and he _knew_ Justin did, too. The saleswoman showed him several rings. He picked The Tiffany Setting with Diamond Band. It was a very classic design. He knew Justin liked classic. Mees thanked the saleswoman (Sanne) heartily and put the tiffany blue box securely in his backpack before heading back to ‘t Paardje.

            Justin was sitting on the terrace with a couple of girls. They were drinking an alcohol free apple cider called _Jillz_ , which must have meant they were minors. Justin drank Heineken beer.

            ‘Hey, Mees,’ said Justin with a smile, and motioned to the chair next to him. The girls giggled at everything he did and Mees thought it was a little annoying. He knew Justin was used to it, though, and he didn’t question how that had happened. Years and years of practice. ‘You’ve been gone long.’ Mees sat down on the little chair.

            ‘Yeah, there was a line.’

            ‘How do you two know each other?’ asked one of the girls.

            ‘From… It’s a funny story, really,’ smiled Justin and looked at the architect for a second. ‘Mees is originally from Amsterdam. He grew up here and all, but he moved to California when he was twenty… twenty-four?’ Mees nodded. ‘Twenty-four, which is four years ago. He bought a house in Santa Monica with an architecture bureau at home, MEES 88, and that was exactly next to my house. They’re both beach houses and we look over at each other every time we go to stand on the front porch to watch the sea. One day, we talked over breakfast and I invited him to my house. Ever since, we have breakfast together, when I’m in town.’ _And lunch and dinner, oh, and we sleep together in the same bed, and we sleep_ with _each other, too._ ‘I guess we just grew close, quickly.’

            ‘Not that funny of a story,’ grinned Mees. ‘but at least it’s true.’    
The girls were called Mia, Roos and Lotte. They were big fans of Justin, all of them, but were relatively calm around him, which was cool. Mees and Justin stayed at ‘t Paardje for another hour, talked to Pieter for a while and then went to have dinner at the restaurant of the hotel.

            ‘I really wanna go to Paris,’ said Mees at dinner. They had quail on a bed of cavolo nero with quinoa. Mees hated the quinoa from the bottom of his heart, but Justin persevered that it wasn’t that bad (it was).       

            ‘Why do you wanna go to Paris so badly, Mees?’ laughed Justin. _Because I wanna propose on the Eiffel Tower and I wanna do it as soon as possible because I’m excited as hell_.

            ‘Come on, you wanna go to Paris, too. Think about it: _Comme des Garçons_ everywhere, red wine with the lunch, smoking inside everywhere, even if it isn’t allowed, the Eiffel Tower. Don’t tell me you don’t wanna go, because I know you do. Croissants with jam, _jus d’orange_. _L’Arc de Triomphe._ French people, Maître Gims, a lot of dogs, ballet… There’s no reason _not_ to go.’

            ‘Well, I have a reason!’ Justin said, quickly. ‘I wanna meet Martin Garrix, still, and he’s in Amsterdam at the moment. So we have to wait at least one more day and night before we can leave. I _like_ it here. And if we go to Paris, chances we’re back in California within two days are huge.’ Mees rolled his eyes. ‘Fine, Martin Garrix isn’t in Amsterdam at the moment. I just like it, here. But if you wanna go to Paris so badly, we should.’ He sighed. ‘Eh… What time do you wanna leave? I’ll call Lionel.’ Lionel was his regular pilot.

 

            They boarded the next day and arrived at Aéroport de Paris-Charles de Gaulle ninety minutes later. Lionel flew away again to fly Pattie, Justin’s mom, from Atlanta, Georgia, to San Francisco for a business meeting tomorrow.   
It was the moment that they stood on top of the Eiffel Tower, that Mees decided it was _the moment_.

            ‘I love you and I will love you for the rest of my life,’ he began. ‘I just… I just know that I will, so I wanna ask you for something, now. A promise, something big.’

            ‘W… _What_?’ Mees kneeled down in front of Justin. He opened the ring box and showed Justin the amazing Tiffany ring that he had picked out. It was marvelous.

            ‘Will you marry me, Justin?’

            ‘I… I… Mees, are you, like, are you sure? Yes, _yes_ , I wanna marry you!’  There was nobody there to applaud or cheer and that was what made it so special. ‘God, I love you.’


End file.
